Minnesota Twins hoping for modest increase in home attendance

Even with the All-Star Game headed to the Twin Cities in July on the heels of an unprecedented Twins spending spree in free agency, home attendance is projected to remain essentially flat in 2014.

That was the word from Twins President Dave St. Peter, who said before Friday's opening of TwinsFest that he was "very hopeful" the club would reach 2.5 million in home attendance this season.

That would represent only the slightest of upticks from the 2,477,644 the Twins drew last season while losing 96 games. Their average of 30,588 ranked the Twins 17th among 30 teams in major league baseball.

"We've got to stop the bleeding," St. Peter said. "We have to take a step forward on the field.

Four-year-old Logan Conde of Isanti waited four hours Friday to meet his favorite player Joe Mauer during the first day of Twinsfest at Target Field in Minneapolis. (Pioneer Press: Ben Garvin)

If we do that, I think the experience here is good enough, and I think the market here is enthused enough about baseball that our season-ticket base will start to climb."

Last year's total continued an attendance plunge from the Twins' initial seasons at Target Field, when they ranked sixth (2010), fourth (2011) and 12th (2012) in the majors.

Average home attendance has dropped 23 percent over the past three seasons as the Twins averaged 97 losses.

"We dug this hole ourselves with our on-field play," St. Peter said.

A full season-ticket equivalent base that has dropped steadily from 25,000 in 2010 to last year's 19,000 is only projected to reach 17,000 by Opening Day, St. Peter said.

"Any time your season-ticket base goes down, I'm not happy," he said. "That said, I'm realistic. Clearly, the All-Star Game is playing a role in keeping it at 17. I think it could have been worse."

According to St. Peter, a non-contending team might add a few hundred season-ticket equivalents once the season starts. Should the Twins surprise and chase a playoff spot for a large portion of the 2014 season, they could make strides toward reclaiming that 19,000 season-ticket figure.

"To get back to 19, let me just say this, it would take a pennant race in September in order for us to get there," St.

Peter said. "If we're having a good season, it's feasible you could add a couple thousand FSEs during the course of the season. That's possible. But if you're not in contention, that's going to be tough."

Even with a season-ticket base of 17,000, the Twins still would be easily in the upper half of the majors, St. Peter said.

"There's a lot of clubs that would love to have 17,000," he said. "We're obviously disappointed it's declining, but I have some perspective on the league because I see all the numbers."

And if the Twins enjoy a strong season in 2014, could they make it all the way back to 25,000 season-ticket holders a year from now? It's not that simple, St. Peter cautioned.

"I don't know if that would get us back to 25," he said. "I think it's a process. Again, that's all relative. I think we have to just get back to a level of playing good, competitive, hopefully contending baseball. If we do that, the season-ticket base will take care of itself."

With roughly 15,000 fans expected to attend TwinsFest this weekend at Target Field, the Twins can only hope they will gradually begin to lure back former customers.

After shelling out nearly $87 million to sign four free agents -- Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes, Mike Pelfrey and Kurt Suzuki -- even Twins CEO Jim Pohlad is guarded in his optimism.

"We're as optimistic as 29 other clubs," Pohlad said. "We understand we came off three tough seasons. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."